Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome – Episode One and Two

Battlestar Galactica fans, the wait is finally over! After the long saga of Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome, the world is finally able to see the pilot of the shot-down series. The Syfy network decided that they will release weekly chapters of the pilot online, air it as a made-for-TV movie in 2013, and then release it on DVD and Blu-ray.Blood and Chrome was designed as a prequel to Battlestar Galactica, the 2004 series, which tells the story of William Adama, the Commander-eventually-turned-Admiral of the fleet. It takes place within the first ten years of the first Cylon War.

Every Friday, the YouTube channel Machinima will release seven-to-twelve minute segments of the two-hour pilot. This Friday, they released the first two.

Warning: Spoilers ahead!

Rookie William Adama is a hotshot Caprica City pilot who begins narrating a letter to his father about joining the fight against the Cylons. The montage features the building of the original Cylon models, their violent revolt, and a burning Caprica City.

Adama is first seen in a simulation. It reminded me of Starbuck, Kara Thrace from the ‘04 series—completely out of control, cocky, and just plain reckless. I loved it! His cockpit was hit with debris from a Cylon aircraft, so he had to improvise. He ejected the broken glass from his viper, even though he would take in massive amounts of radiation, and shot his gun, upside-down no less, at the Cylon. The CGI during this sequence was extremely well done.

Taking off the goggles, he instantly began hitting on fellow officers and bragging about his high score. Adama looked out of the window of the passenger ship to see a sweeping view of the ship he will later become the Commander of.

Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, he entered the hanger. For one moment, he descended from his cocky ways and became a fanboy when he saw his hero “The Minuteman,” Deke Tornvald. Wanting to get in on the action right away, Adama was assigned a Raptor instead of Viper, which didn’t go over well.

He met his co-pilot, Coker Fasjovik, who was cleaning up the blood from his last partner who died on a mission. They were called into the CIC where Adama met the Commanding Officer. Sure, the CIC was mostly done by CGI, but goodness it looked frakking awesome.

Adama and Coker were assigned a four-day cargo run and return with spare parts. They were ordered to avoid enemy contact, which of course means they will eventually run into Cylons.

On a side note: how awesome was it to hear the words “frak,” “gods,” and “toaster” again? I forgot how much I enjoyed them.

Chapter Two began with Adama complaining about making the milk run, but Coker couldn’t be happier. Since he only has forty-seven more days left on his second tour, he just wants to get out safely without any complications.

While in the shower, he saw his hero, Deke Tornvald, and approached him. He had a huge scar on the left side of his back and said his record was all bull. Hopefully we find out more about him because he seems like he would have an interesting backstory.
Somewhat deflated, Adama walked away and into the showers. There, he took some more ribbing from fellow officers and met a civilian software engineer, who designed the Cylon upgrade, and sparks flew between the two. She ended up being the cargo that they had to transport.
While the two pilots were getting ready for the milk run, Coker asked about Adama’s dad. It was a nice little easter egg for fans of the previous series who know about Adama’s dad and that he is the reason Lee, Bill’s son, ended up becoming a lawyer in the last season of the show.
While on their way, she presented them with a new set of orders from the Admiral. According to the orders, they were to set course for Sector 12, which is on the edge of Cylon-controlled space. Of course, with this Bill perked right up, he couldn’t be happier, while it annoyed Coker to no end.
Once they reached the rendezvous point, a body flew and hit the raptor. The Battlestar Archeron was destroyed. While flying through the bodies and debris, Cylon raiders began to attack.
I was actually at Richard Hatch’s panel, he portrayed Apollo from the original Battlestar Galactica and terrorist Tom Zarek in the ‘04 series, at WonderCon last year; and we were the first group to see the trailer for Blood and Chrome. Let me tell you, I was excited. So, when I heard the network was passing on developing it, I was extremely disappointed. But the new material hasn’t let me down, and the first episode made me nostalgic for the beloved series.

So far, the pilot fits in perfectly with the Battlestar Galactica universe from the shaky camera angles, to the uniforms, to the music. The second chapter settled down into a nice rhythm of dialogue and intrigue, and it ended on a killer cliffhanger.